Mega Man X13: In Search of Lost Time
by Yar Kramer
Summary: (Chapter 6 up and everything else revised!) In 22XX, a rebellion has uncovered a capsule containing ... no, it isn't Zero, but then someone related to him shows up. And behind the villainy is ... take a wild guess!
1. Emergence

Disclaimer: I own a surprisingly large number of the characters here, but the main concept belongs to Capcom, and so do the rest of the characters. Look, let's just begin the story. 

Prologue

_If there is a constant in this universe, it is that there will always be junk heaps. _

The form of a junk heap has varied greatly over the centuries. Four million years ago, the man-apes simply tossed half-chewed bones in a habitual direction; a millenium and a half in the past, there would be piles of garbage and excrement; just two hundred and fifty years ago, landfills covered miles, with all manner of things thrown away. 

The latest incarnation of the junk heap was a maze of twisted metal thrown into one large pile, to be later removed and recycled to build more machines which would one day end up in exactly the same place. There were many like these, all over the world; all hid something, but one of them had a particular secret beneath it. 

From a distance, it would seem nothing more than a length of blue tubing; no one was going to view it from a distance anyway, since it was currently buried deep under the earth. In reality, it was a sealed capsule, containing a shielded, sophisticated computer; a power generator that could last for centuries; a loudspeaker; several hundred feet of tightly wound wire; ... and something else, a separate entity from the rest. 

The computer was running a large number of tests. It had been for as long as any human now alive could have remembered, had they known. A lot of them involved personality, moral judgement, and many other similar things. Every so often -- maybe once a year, or less often -- the soft, soundless voices that clamored in the computer would cry out in alarm, but a much greater Voice would calm them, make whatever changes were necessary, and run the test again. The second time, the voices would be content. 

And now, all concieveable tests had been successful, and enough countless years had gone by. Judging that the time had come, the computer fed power into systems which had not been used in countless decades. Sophisticated motors started running, creating a tunnel above the capsule, pushing it upwards, and then sealing the passage below it. Currents of electricity fed into the coil generated a powerful field, which would signal its presence to anyone who cared to look, or who could detect magnetism. 

And around it, several different entities noticed the magnetic field. They were different, and had different reactions, but suddenly, they all had the same destination. 

_**Mega Man X**_13_:_   
In Search of Lost Time 

Chapter 1: "Emergence" 

"Let's see ... the center of the magnetic field is ahead and ... Ooh, chromium!" The figure grabbed at the shining scrap of metal. He dropped it, disappointed; it was just aluminum. 

_"Be careful Jakesten,"_ said the voice of an old man that only he could hear, inasmuch as it was transmitted directly into his brain. _"You don't want to end up as a feature here!"_

"Pah," said Jakesten into a transmitter on his left shoulder, "there isn't enough metal in my body to pay your bills! The rest of me, on the other hand, and my armor, however, might --" 

_"Focus!"_

"Alright, already! Sorry!" Jakesten continued to jog among the towers of debris under the night sky, searching for whatever the source of this blasted magetic field turned out to be. He wore red and white armor, making it instantly obvious that he was a Reploid, rather than a human; very few organic beings that size could carry that much weight and still jump that high. In fact, _no_ organic being could jump that high. 

Actually, to refer to it as "armor" is somewhat misleading; most of it was actually as flexible as cloth. However, it would take a very powerful force or energy to penetrate it, and it was technically made of extremely durable alloy. The proper term would be flex-armor. 

Jakesten shook his head to clear it; his mind was wandering from the task at hand again. This had been happening a lot lately. Not that running through trash required a great deal of thought, but he didn't like to waste processing power. Especially if something were to suddenly go wrong; he didn't want his response to be slowed by the untimely thoughts of the precise value of the various parts that comprised his artificial body. It was as if there was a buzzing in his mind, causing it to go off in all directions, interfering with his mental -- 

He blinked; the source was obvious. "That damn magnetic field!" 

_"Pardon?_

"Sorry. The magnetic field seems to be messing with my head. Er ..." He glanced around; his sense of direction was suddenly baffled. "Where's the center?" 

_"It should be twenty-seven meters ahead and to your left."_

Jakesten glanced twenty-seven meters ahead and to his left. He thought he saw a large tubular object, so he jumped over to it. A human could probably do that on the moon, but not carrying that much metal. He found that it wasn't actually a tube, but some sort of capsule. He relayed as much information to the Doctor, as he called him. 

_"Interesting,"_ came the response. Something about it had a dreamlike quality. _"And this capsule or something in it is causing the magnetic field?"_

"Uh, yeah," said Jakesten, trying to retain a grip on reality. "You should've had me shield ... shield ..." He looked at the capsule. Was something written on it? So hard to tell ... losing focus ... 

_"Jakesten? Are you all right??"_

Jakesten staggered, and abruptly, the buzzing stopped. He looked at where his hand was, and found that he had slapped a switch, under which was a plaque bearing the words "Push button to deactivate magnet." 

_"JAKESTEN!"_

"I'm okay," he said. "I think. I've just turned off the magnet. You should've had me shielded." 

_"You _were_. That was one hell of an electromagnetic field. Whoever made this capsule wanted it found. Maybe I should have had Arvisven --"_

"No, that's okay," said Jakesten. Arvisven was another Reploid who worked with Jakesten and the Doctor; Jakesten didn't like him much. "Hey, there's some sort of monitor here, at one end ... It says, 'Status: 100%. Activation may commence.'" 

_"Does it say anything else? Is there some sort of input device?"_

"Yeah." Jakesten gingerly pushed a button. "I think this is -- Whoa!" 

_"What?"_

"You're never going to believe this!" 

* * * * *

A basic bit of information about Reploids is that they can think, reason, learn, feel, and make complex decisions as well as any human can, and as some cynics would point out, better. This was now taken for granted by nearly everyone, human and Reploid alike. The few exceptions were philosophers and religious fanatics, who simply refused to get over the fact that humans -- or to be specific, three humans -- had more or less singlehandedly created an entirely separate race from their own. 

A slightly less basic bit of information is that when any Reploid is first activated, their mind is in a blank state with nothing in it except the Three Laws of Robotics (which were originally concieved by a science fiction author but were found to be rather appealing by the fanatics), a dictionary's worth of vocabulary, and a craving for input. This input will usually consist of a Reploid consuming an encyclopedia, then various other sources of information. Those Reploids whose curiosity is not satisfied by this become scientists. 

This is only of casual significance to the topic at hand, which is that of the mysterious capsule which a reploid called Jakesten had just discovered. Jakesten had very little idea of the significance of his discovery, but he was rather excited about it, even in the absence of certain knowledge that he would shortly aquire. To continue: 

Inside the capsule was a Mind. 

Slowly, after an uncountable, or at least uncounted, number of years, the Mind awoke for the very first time. 

The Mind's first thought was, _I think, therefore I am._

Its second thought was, _Once, René Descartes was at a café. He asked for a mug of coffee. A waitress asked, "Will you have cream?" The Descartes replied, "I think not," and promptly vanished._

The Mind's vocabulary had over ten thousand words. All of those above were in it, and it knew who René Descartes was, and it also got the joke. Apparently (This was its third thought), there was a lot of things this mind knew that it didn't know it knew. Its fourth thought was that it would probably find out, but not just now. In point of fact (though it was unaware), the Mind's creator had actually installed an encyclopedia in addition to a dictionary in its mind, thus skipping a bit of the process. 

Presently the became aware that it had a body. It didn't know what this body was like; it was just there, and it accepted that. With that simple acceptance, the artificial Mind proved that it could succeed where millions of organic ones had once failed. It did not know this. It was curious as to who it was, and found that this was one of the things she already knew. 

The Mind wondered when she had begun thinking of herself as female, then pushed such thoughts away. But nothing happened for a moment. 

After the moment ended, nothing continued to happen. 

Then to her surprise, something _did_ happen. 

* * * * *

_"Be careful -- it could be dangerous!"_

"Yeah I know," said Jakesten. "But whoever put this here obviously had the same idea as Dr. Light, and ..." 

_"Dr. Thomas Xavier Light, as you know,"_ said the voice on the radio frostily, _"has been dead for almost two hundred years."_

"Yeah, and Columbus has been dead for a thousand, and we still think the world's round!" shot back Jakesten, ignoring the protests that not only was it was closer to seven hundred and fifty, it also wasn't Columbus who had made the discovery. "It worked, anyway." He glanced at the monitor. "Look, it says 'Activation cycle ready. Do you want to continue?' Should I?" 

There was the briefest of pauses. _"You're sure you can't bring this back?"_

"It's too big to teleport, two heavy and bulky to carry, and too late to send someone else," said Jakesten. 

_"All right,"_ said the Doctor. _"Do it."_

"And the monkey throws the switch," said Jakesten, quoting a movie he couldn't quite remember except for that one line. He pushed the butten which corresponded to "Okay" on the screen. 

In front of him, seams appeared in the smooth, blue surface, and part of the capsule slid away. Jakesten hadn't even detected that there was a mechanism for opening a door. They door disappeared into the side, revealing ... 

... a smooth red surface! 

Jakesten looked at the screen, which now said, "Activation cycle still ready. Are you _sure_ you want to continue?" He pressed "Okay" again. This time, the red surface disintigrated, revealing a smooth _white_ surface. 

The excitement was beginning to give way to annoyance. The screen now said "Yes, the activation cycle persists in its readiness. Are you _really_ sure you want to continue?" He tersely pushed the button again. 

And this time, the capsule opened. 

Inside was the most beautiful female Reploid he had ever seen. Of course, most of the other female Reploids he had ever seen had animal forms, so this didn't say much. By the average human's standards, she was pretty at best. She was wearing green and black armor -- solid metal, not flex-armor! The control crystal on her forehead shined a similar shade of green. She lay in the capsule, squinting at what to him was the dark of night, but she had clearly never used her optics before, so it took them a moment to adjust. She sat up unsteadily, looked around a bit, and then noticed Jakesten. 

"Uh, hello," he said. 

"Hel-lo," she said. Her voice sounded harsh in contrast to her appearance, or for that matter in contrast to her surroundings. Reploids didn't suffer from muscle atrophy, inasmuch as they didn't really have muscles, but if a Reploid goes for a sufficiently immense amount of time without using a particular moveable part he or she (or it) may have trouble when they try. 

"My name is Jakesten. What's yours?" 

"I --" Her voice still sounded harsh, but it was getting better. "I am Andante." 

"Oh, great, not another musical term," muttered Jakesten. His mind was racing. _Oh, no, someone who's never been activated before, and we're miles from the nearest computer. Wait, we can just teleport to the -- _

"Jakesten! What's going on?" 

Jakesten gave a brief report into his transmitter. Andante watched, apparently deducing what the transmitter was. 

_"Fascinating,"_ said the Doctor in his one of his patented tecnically-a-reaction-but-revealing-no-emotion-or-information-whatsoever responses that fooled no one and mystified everyone. _"Bring her here."_

Jakesten nodded. "Okay." He switched off the transmitter. 

"What's going on?" asked Andante. 

"We're going to teleport back to base," replied Jakesten. 

"Er, excuse me," said a voice from the capsule. It had a very familiar British accent. 

"Huh??" said Jakesten. That was the voice of John Cleese! "Um, what are you?" 

"I am known by several names: the computer, the Great Voice, the FOCI, and Edward." 

"You're a _FOCI_!?" exclaimed Jakesten, peering into a capsule. He found it: a computer that looked to be the size of some of the earliest laptop computers, but knowing modern technology -- or relatively modern, anyway -- it could hold some several terabytes. He lifted it up, disconnecting it from the capsule. 

"Yes, I am a computer that was built by the FOCI corporation," said Edward. "Now let's teleport back to this base of yours before Andante gets some negative input." 

"All right," said Jakesten. He and Andanta vanished in a briliant flash of red light. 

* * * * *

They reappeared in a teleportation center. This was all new to Andante, who hadn't been alive before. She didn't have a reference point for anything at all except herself, and since having only one reference point isn't going to get you anywhere at all, she was content to just follow Jakesten, who was carrying Edward under his shoulder, down a series of passageways until they arrived at an office room. 

Inside was a tall Reploid sitting at a desk, reading over a few reports on a small console. He wore what appeared to be a lab coat and an oddly blocky helmet. He looked up as they entered. "Greetings, Andante," he said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Doctor de Capo." 

"Hello," said Andante. "Were you the one who Jakesten was in contact with?" 

Doctor de Capo glanced sharply at Jakesten, who shrugged and said, "She seemed to know what my transmitter is for." 

"Ah, the minds of the young," said the Doctor, smiling, "instantly capable of recognizing things for what they are and should be. None of this suspicion. Anyway, you are dismissed for the time being." 

Jakesten left. The Doctor turned to Andante and said, "Now, I would imagine that you desire a significant amount of input." 

* * * * *

"So, how does it feel to be the first person to come into contact with a Reploid who's been only recently activated?" asked Edward. 

"Weirder and weirder," said Jakesten. "When did you spring from!?" 

"My last input by a fully sentient being (I suppose) before I heard your incoherent babbling was on March 27th, 2119." 

_"WHAT!?"_ Jakesten stumbled. 

"And thank you," added the computer, "for almost dropping me." 

"In the capsule for ..." gasped Jakesten, "I don't know _how_ long!" 

"I've been in the capsule," said Edward, not missing a beat, "for one hundred and forty-seven years, two months, one week, five days, three hours, twelve minutes, and sixty-six seconds . . . now." 

"Uh, don't you mean thirteen minutes and six seconds?" asked Jakesten. 

"I mean," said Edward, "twelve minutes and sixty-six seconds. That does not include the five seconds (now) which have elapsed since then. Today is June 8th, 2266, at 11:34 PM and s--" 

"Great," said Jakesten. "I look for an ancient computer that's causing a magnetic disturbance and I find a wristwatch." 

"Oh be more polite," said Edward. "You wouldn't want Andante to get negative input, would you?" 

Jakesten grimaced. Negative input was a term for when a Reploid, whilst getting a personality from its new experiences, recieved some input that affected him/her/it adversely. It had been coined two decades after Edward's last input by a fully sentient being. "Where'd you pick _that_ phrase up?" 

"I made it up myself," said Edward, "after poring through the input I had recieved and coming across an interesting urban legend. Apparently, before he had joined the Maverick Hunters, Sigma had brushed aside a joke a friend of his had made, and Mega Man X complained that he should have been exposed to Monty Python first, _then_ Aristotle, and -- Who's that?" 

Jakesten looked up and thought, _Oh no._ He saw that into the hallway had walked one of the few Reploids who worked for The Doctor who Jakesten really didn't like: Arvisven. 

Arvisven -- or rather, Sonic Skyfox RV7 -- was sleek, tall, winged, and rather annoying. "Hey, there, Jake!" he exclaimed cheerfully. 

"You know, it's really annoying when you call me that," said Jakesten. 

"I'll keep that in mind, Jake," said Arvisven, not missing a beat. "I hear you got lucky!" 

"Lucky how?" asked Jakesten, cursing himself and keeping his voice neutral. 

"Well, that girl we brought back didn't get beyond ten feet from you until you got to the Doctor's office!" said Arvisven, affecting his most annoying singsong voice. "I bet she couldn't bear to part with you!" 

"She doesn't have much more than a rudimentary personality," put in Edward. 

"Oh, a laptop!" crowed Arvisven, bending down to get a good look. "I haven't seen one of those in _years!_ Especially one with that much personality!" 

"I do try to please," said Edward proudly, "when I'm not trying to annoy." 

"Hey, I know what that's like," said Arvisven. "Say, how do you know so much 'bout the new girl?" 

"I have been monitoring and correcting her mental patterns for the past century and a half." 

Arvisven's jaw dropped, as did his wings. This looked somewhat comical on a Reploid who had been based on a bat. 

"I hate to break up this _delightful_ conversation," said Jakesten, resisting a sudden desire to hit Arvisven with a brick, "but I have a report to file. Edward, you got a word processor in your system?" 

"No, but I'd _love_ to get acquainted with modern software," replied the computer. 


	2. Reaction

Disclaimer: Most of the characters are belong to me, a lot of the concept are belong to Capcom, several of the jokes are belong to their respective owners, the Three Laws of Mavericks are belong to Erico, and one of the lines are belong to Toaplan. Thank you. 

_**Mega Man X**_13_:_   
In Search of Lost Time 

Chapter 2: "Reaction" 

_Personal journal entry of Dr. de Capo for 13 June 2266 at 0632 hrs. _

After three days of getting input from such things as updated encyclopedias, episodes of television series, and the omnipresent Internet, I believe Andante has gained a coherent personality. She has a distinct sense of humor, a sharp wit, and a mild edge of cynicism. I have yet to see her in a combat situation; I think, however, that with a little training she can become a skilled fighter. 

There is also the matter of her creator, who over a hundred and fifty years ago put her in that capsule in the first place. Andante certainly doesn't know who he or she was, and Edward, the computer that came with her, refuses to say anything other than that he will eventually reveal everything we want to know, but is waiting for what he calls "the right time." 

Meanwhile, we've had another report of RAS activity around the junkyard where Andante's capsule was discovered. Just to be on the safe side, I've asked that everyone stay underground for the time being. I have a nasty suspicion that Andante's combat skill will be tested soon, and I want to postpone it as long as possible. 

Perhaps I ought to tell her more about us. 

* * * * *

A sign over the lounge door read "Notice: All your base are belong to us." Andante smiled inwardly, mentally quoting an old axiom: "Some jokes never get old, some jokes never die, and some jokes exist in a state of undeath that is technically _way too old_ but which doesn't stop people from quoting them." The Zero Wing phenomenon fell into the last category, especially since "A.D. 2101" had passed without any invasions from aliens that spoke mangled English. 

Inside, Jakesten, Edward, Arvisven, and two Reploids she didn't recognize were playing a game of cards. Andante noted that whenever Jakesten and Arvisven went against each other, even if it was just a game of cards, tension radiated from Jakesten, wafted around the room a bit, and was then sucked into Arvisven, who had apparently never been tense in his life. Jakesten, however, seemed to become tense as often as he could. 

Two days ago Edward had transferred his entire memory into a nonsentient but much more powerful handheld computer, and was now using it to generate holographic images of the cards for each player. He was apparently the dealer. "Are you _sure_ you want to make that bet, Plaid Terrier?" 

The somewhat doglike old Reploid nodded. "Aye, lad," he said, with a thick Scottish accent. "I know this'n well enough!" 

The green humanoid chuckled. "Ah, but do you?" he asked, his voice even, cool, rasping, deadly, and bursting with confidence. "Twexty, you can't beat MY hand!" Andante, from her vantage point, noted that he had an absolutely ghastly hand: a two, a three, a five, a six, and a four. 

"No matter what ye say or how ye say it, Drune," said Plaid Terrier, or Twexty as Drune had called him, "I can tell when ye're lyin'. It's the fact that ye're startin' with a tone of voice in C shahrp!" 

"What are you playing?" asked Andante. 

"Gin," said Arvisven. "At least, I think we are." 

"Gin!?" barked Twexty. "Are you kidding me? I thought we were playin' Scotch!" 

Andante idly glanced in his direction. "I'm not going to ask you what Scotch is," she said humorously, "because I've seen that episode of 'The A-Team' and I know that if I do I will just curse myself when you tell me that Scotch is a game where all cards are wild except the three of spades, which gets removed from the deck prior to the deal, thus rendering that card useless." 

"Scotch," growled the terrier, "is a light, blended whisky." 

"There," said Andante. "See? I was wrong." 

"The game we're playing," said Jakesten, "is poker." 

"Or possibly Rock Bottom," said Drune, looking at his hand. "Y'know, that game where you try to get the lowest score?" 

"I was dealing for a variant of BS with multiple decks," said Edward in a cheery voice. 

"Look, is it okay if we start over?" asked Arvisven, dropping his hand and revealing five aces of clubs. 

"I'm available for a game of Egyptian Rat Screw," said Andante. 

"And I thought _my_ game had an odd name," muttered Edward. "I was right, too." 

Andante paused, recieving a transmission. "Oops, I guess I'm not available after all. The Doctor calls. You, too, Edward," she added, picking up the computer. 

"Oh, well, you know what they say," said Arvisven, "an apple a --" 

Andante left without bothering to listen to the rest of what the bat was saying. 

* * * * *

Doctor de Capo, also known as The Doctor or just Doc, sat in his office, appearing to pore over some text documents on a small computer. Actually, his computer could display anything from news reports to video games, but when someone got near his office, it would alert him, he would switch to something pretentious, and then proceed to pore over it. 

This was much how Andante found him when she entered. He switched it off and smiled at her. "Hello, Andante, Edward," he said. 

"Good morning," said Edward. 

"Hello, Doctor," said Andante. "What did you call me for?" 

This was a delicate subject and he chose his words wisely. "Well," he began, "I have decided that it's time you knew exactly what we were all about." 

"Tell me," said Andante. 

"Well, we are a group called OMNI," said the Doctor. "We're a sort of rebellion against the RAS." 

"What's the RAS?" asked Edward. 

"The Reploid Authority System," said the Doctor. "They're a new government order, consisting of humans and reploids who are apparently a bit over-paranoid about Maverick attacks, so they've begun to arrest us with little provocation. And if they've actually done something, they are summarily executed." 

"I see," said Andante. "And everyone has a right to a trial by jury unless they're accused of something that warrants a trial by jury." 

"Precisely," said Doctor de Capo. "Though I think it's more of a privelege, that people violate by allegedly commiting a crime. The most chilling aspect of all, though, is that they've been doing this to humans as well." 

"Humans!?" Andante gulped. 

"My god," muttered Edward. A Reploid would do all in his or her power to prevent a human coming to harm. And if the RAS had Reploids and condoned _killing_ humans -- 

"So you see," said the Doctor, "what we're up against: a government consisting of Mavericks who allow some humans to exist, but take out their destructive tendencies on others. This is why we are especially worried. How are you at combat?" 

Andante shrugged, still shaken by this revelation. "I -- I don't know. I mean, I just came out of a capsule four days ago." 

"In that case, we'll have to get the training center ready," replied the Doctor. 

* * * * *

A team of robots was at the junk yard, watched by two Reploids and a human atop a hill made of debris. The Reploids were humanoid; since it had been seen that animaloids were eleven times as likely to go Maverick as humanoids, no animaloid had ever been seen as members of RAS Military. The human was Lieutenant Maria Hastings, and the Reploids were Lieutenant Aurol and Commander Gaius. Aurol shined brightly in his golden armor; Gaius with his black armor was barely visible. 

The robots continued their work, undaunted by anything at all. In the age of Reploids, robots with any intelligence beyond slavery to their programming were few and far between, and none of them was among these. They did their work without any desire for reward or fear of punishment, and their masters were satisfied by this. When they moved fast, it was without any air of urgency; when they moved slow, it was without any air of relaxation. They were interested in nothing, disinterested in all but what was assigned them. The word _robot_ had originated in a term that meant _slave_, and these beings fit that definition perfectly. 

Some of them examined the blue, empty capsule which four days ago had suddenly started and shortly ceased emitting a tremendous electromagnetic field. Others examined the area for clues as to what happened. 

Hastings stirred. "I hope that they come up with something soon," she said. 

Gaius glanced idly at her. "Patience, Lieutenant," he said. "If we find something, we'll find something." 

She glowered at him, but didn't say anything. Aurol turned to her. "I know how you feel, but should this warrant _that_ much worry?" 

"Potentially, yes," she said. "Suppose whatever was in this capsule turned out to be a powerful Maverick that could wipe us all out? It could show up at any time!" 

"She's right, you know," said Gaius. "Just because it hasn't appeared yet doesn't mean it won't. I mean, it took Zero, the first being infected with the Maverick virus, months to show up." 

"Yes," said Aurol, "but after the truth was revealed, I believe they found out that he had been sealed away in a capsule ... until Garma's unit found him and stupidly released him." 

The woman glowered at them, not really caring about all this ancient history. She checked her wrist computer, which indicated that her shift was almost over. 

"Look, I'm going back to the dropship," she said. "I'm going to need some rest." 

"Good luck," said Aurol as she left. 

"Aurol, you shouldn't make fun of other peoples' insomnia," said Gaius. 

"You have no sense of humor," complained Aurol. 

Gaius gave him a sidelong glance. "I was exposed to Aristotle," he said, "before Monty Python." 

Aurol considered this, and decided that the jet-black Reploid wasn't trying to be funny. "Look," he said, "let's just wait until our shift is over and then go, okay?" 

"Fine," said Gaius. "But I want to be back here the instant something happens." 

He didn't know it, but something would. 

* * * * *

"Nice shot," said Jakesten. 

Andante had just made a rather difficult shot in a target practice game, and after a rough start, her score was closing in on his. 

"Thanks," she said. "You know, I've been meaning to ask you: where'd your name come from? It doesn't really sound usual to me." 

"It's actually from my model number," he said. "JX-10. A lot of Reploids are doing that now away. Arvisven does it -- he's actually called Sonic Bat RV7; Twexty is model 2XT ..." He winced as one of the targets managed to dodge a shot he had made, but he scored a few extra points because it promptly crashed into an obstacle. "Your move," he said. 

She fired some shots at the moving targets, hitting two. "What about Drune?" she asked. "I can't come up with any model numbers that would actually be used by any human or Reploid." 

"He's actually a BN3, which would make him Benthry," said Jakesten, scoring a direct hit on a target, "but Twexty calls him Drune because, in his words, most of the time he's _dr_" -- she assumed he meant _dour_ -- "and cares for nought but his _eun_ self. Hence, _dr-eun_, or Drune." 

Andante said, "I wonder if his aim is as bad as his puns?" and fired at an obsticle instead of a target. The bolt bounced off and ricocheted around the room, clearing most of the remaining targets, and almost _squaring_ her score. The bolt ended up leaving the arena entirely and leaving a slight scortch mark on the wall near the door. 

Jakesten's jaw dropped. "Um, compared to you, I think almost anyone would be. How the hell ...?" 

"A quick burst of mental spatial trigonometry," said Andante. "I calculated the vector off of several surfaces, and angled my shot to the millimeter so that it would hit all of them. In other words, sheer luck." 

"You've got plenty of _that_," said Jakesten. "Here, should we rearrange the playing field ...? Uh-oh." Arvisven had just entered. 

"Soooo, how you two lovebirds doing'?" asked the bat. "Can I join in the fun?" 

"No, I don't feel like socializing with people who are too batty," said Andante, not missing a beat. 

Arvisven chuckled. "You can never be too batty, girl." 

"Yes you can," she said. "And you are." 

"Ohh," said Arvisven, clutching his stomach and stumbling. "She got me with her Snappy Comeback move! I shoulda saw this coming!" 

"Should we finish him off, or leave him for dead?" asked Jakesten. 

"I'm okay!" said Arvisven. 

"I wish you weren't," said Andante. She and Jakesten left. 

* * * * *

**The Maverick stole silently through the city, careful to avoid detection, looking for two things: something to destroy, and a source of power. **

Years of experience had allowed it to find ways to recharge its power without using those ridiculous "pods." It tapped into a power cable here, converted fuel cells into electricity there, and could even steal power from other Reploids. Whether blood or mech-fluid coursed through its veins, no one was safe. 

It also liked to download information from these Reploids, stealing information and memory for itself. One such Reploid transmitted this Maverick a strange sort of virus that it had never tried to remove, because it had no effect; the three mandates it gave were mandates this Reploid already followed by nature. They were: _DESTROY!_ Anything that lived must be killed, and all that opposed it must be destroyed. _INFECT!_ When it wasn't killing Reploids, it tried to transmit this virus to them. _SURVIVE!_ It did its best to protect its own existence, unless it involved failure of the other two. 

And the odd thing was, it had already had this virus since before it could remember. 

In any event, it now found itself among towers of things destroyed; robots, Reploids, means of transport, all lay in pieces around it. It hid itself among the scrap, and watched an intact dropship take off from the ground and fly away. It gazed at this for a moment, and then wandered over to where the dropship had been. Below, it saw many mechanicals which seemed alarmed by its presence. The giveaway was probably that they were shouting, "Halt! Surrender-or-you-will-be-destroyed! Of-course,-you-will-probably-be-destroyed-anyway! Fighting-back-will-not-do-you-any-good! Or-us-for-that-matter!" and other words to that effect in that monotone voice of theirs. 

Beneath the white skull-like mask that hid its face, the Maverick smiled and picked up a large piece of metal tubing. "I think," it said, the mask giving it a demonic voice, "that it is _you_ who will be destroyed." And then it threw the tube. 

"Oh-crap," said the leader of the robots. "Blast-him!" 

Simpleminded as robots were, to a fighting machine, "_Oh crap_" and "_Blast him_" were probably synonymous. But it was in vain. The robots were very easily destroyed, even before they could fire, and the Maverick reveled in the carnage. Then another large flying machine hove into view above it. The Maverick laughed -- a chilling sound -- and threw the tube at it. The antigrav generators on the bottom sputtered and fell, then it crashed to the surface of the junkyard, bursting into flame. The Maverick laughed again, and saw a blue capsule. It destroyed that, as well. Then it decided that it might be safer to leave this place than to tarry. And so it did, disappearing in a stream of blue light that shot into the sky and vanished. It was some time before another flying machine arrived, and by the time it did, the Maverick was long gone from where it materialized. 

And the penultimate creation of the old doctor recharged itself from a power cable, biding its time, its mind around one thought: 

_Someday, I will have my revenge ..._

* * * * *

_"May I have your attention please: Would units Humanoid JX-10 and Humanoid Andante 1 please report to The Doctor's office?"_

The primary reason that this was a bit silly was that this message, rather than being broadcast over a PA system, was being transmitted directly into the skulls of Andante and Jakesten. The secondary reason was the pun on "The Doctor's office." A third silly thing was referring to them by their designations, and a fourth was giving Andante a number. 

Irregardless, the two of them ended up arriving at the Doctor's office. Doctor de Capo was poring over some text documents on his computer, but he looked up when they entered. They knew something was up by the fact that he didn't smile pleasantly, and Andante said words to that effect. 

"Well, you know that the RAS's initial paranoia about Mavericks wasn't wholely unfounded, even if their reaction was a bit extreme," began the Doctor. 

"Give it to us straight, Doc," said Jakesten. "What got hit and how hard?" 

"A military camp in Pakistan and the junkyard where we found Andante," said Doctor de Capo. "Apparently, a so-called 'crazy blue Maverick' singlehandedly wiped out everyone at the camp, then teleported to the junkyard and annihilated everything there. The casualties total seven humans, fourteen Reploids, and about twenty-eight robots. All but one of the robots was at the junkyard, and only one of the humans and four of the Reploids were. To make it even more fun, all were among the RAS's finest. And that's not all." 

Andante and Jakesten grimly exchanged a glance. What could be much worse than a Maverick who could singlehandedly kill forty-nine of the RAS's best fighters? 

"This is a picture they managed to get of it," said the Doctor, bringing up an image on his monitor. 

They looked and were chilled. The Reploid wore blue and white armor on its chest, feet, and hands. The helmet, which had a white, skull-like mask that hid the face, had blue, sweeping curves that gave the impression of horns, or feline ears, and a triangular, red control crystal dominated the forehead. Even though it didn't have chest lights or long hair, and even though its face was hidden, it was clear to them. This Maverick looked like a blue version of what anyone who fought him called the Red Terror: Zero Omega. 

Andante and Jakesten looked at each other. "This is bad," she said. 


	3. Confrontation

Disclaimer: I own some of the rights of most of the characters here. Capcom owns the rest of them. I own a lot of the story. Capcom owns most the backstory. I own the -- Let's just get on with it. 

_**Mega Man X**_13_:_   
In Search of Lost Time 

Chapter 3: "Confrontation" 

The _Enterprise_ was an RAS vessel. Her job was to carry dangerous weapons across the ocean and could put up a fight better than any other ship. Her crew's skill was second to none; her captain was a briliant tactician named Emanuel Dawson. They could easily stand up against the ragtag group of potential Mavericks that formed OMNI. 

"Sir," said a bridge officer, "we're getting a strange energy reading inside the cargo hold. It could be somebody trying to teleport in." 

"Activate a scatter field," said Captain Dawson. "That'll make them lose the signal. And have some men stand by." 

"Done, sir," said the officer. 

Meanwhile, a group of Reploids, led by a blue-and-green armored soldier called TK421, peered into the cargo hold, at all the crates of weapons stored there. On the off-chance that someone managed to get through the scatter field, they weren't going to let them live long. And the crates were proof against attack, so the rather dangerous cargo was safe. 

The hum and whine of a teleport field became audible. TK421 braced himself, either for combat or for the sight of someone failing to materialize and succeeding to horribly disintegrate. A glow filled the room -- 

And something clicked. "Captain!" he shouted into a comlink. "They're not teleporting someone in -- _they're teleporting the cargo out!"_

_"WHAT!?"_ exclaimed the captain. _"Turn off the scatter field!"_

The only way they could do that from here was to blast the emitters, which TK421 and his other soldiers did. The glow engulfed every single blast-proof crate in the room, evaporated, and then shot through the ceiling. 

"I don't believe it," said TK421. "They got everything!" 

There was a pause as that sank in. "All right, men," said TK421. "Looks like we're doomed." 

They turned to leave, but as they did, a bolt of light shot down and transformed into a wooden crate. TK421 walked over to it and looked in; it was filled completely with thermal grenades, every single one of which had an LED countdown that said _7 ... 6 ... 5 ..._

"GET OUT! SEAL OFF THE HOLD!" shouted TK421, dashing out. The doors closed, and the force field system was activated around the room. They was a series of muffled but loud explosions, and after a moment another, smaller one. 

TK421 opened the door and looked through the still-activated force fields. The _Enterprise_ had a hull that could withstand direct attack from guided missiles, and the hold was designed to hold explosives. With the force fields, the worst that had happened was that it made a rather nasty mess. 

"All right," said TK421, "_now_ we're doomed." 

* * * * *

The way it worked was, OMNI teleported a cube of rock twenty meters on a side out of a mountain (They had chosen Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire.) and into a remote part of the Sahara desert. They then teleported the weapons into the gap this left behind, then teleported all the weapons (except the crate of thermal grenades) to the OMNI base -- located in Japan, under Mt. Fuji, in fact -- and teleported the rock back into the mountain. Since there were two warp signals from the same location in different directions within two minutes of each other, it was impossible to pinpoint where they led, except that it was on the same side of the Earth as the International Date Line, which wasn't very helpful as far as locating it. 

Going through the weapons, Andante found a crate of what looked for all the world like sawed-off blaster rifles. 

"That," said Jakesten, "is a machinesaber." He took it and indicated a switch. "You set it to this mode, and it works just like a plasma machine gun. Then, you set it like this ..." He flipped the switch, then closed the front handle of the machinesaber so it covered the trigger and pushed a button. This caused a purple beam of energy three and a half feet long to extend from the barrel and stay there. "It works like a beamsaber." 

"Nice," said Andante, taking it and turning it off. "I think I'll use this one." 

"Of course, who in their right mind would want, let alone make a purple-bladed beamsaber?" Drune wondered aloud, going through some armor. 

"Me," Andante. 

"That answers that question," said Arvisven, not missing a beat, as he played with some sensor jaming equipment. He turned to Jakesten. "I still say you and Andante make a cute couple." 

Jakesten armed another machinesaber -- green blade -- and pointed it at Arvisven's throat. "_Now_ do you still say it?" he chuckled. 

"Not at swordpoint, I don't," said Arvisven. 

"So, after this," said Andante, "I assume we're going to go investigate this Maverick?" 

"Yep, that's pretty much it," said Jakesten. "Wonder if we'll do any good?" 

"Well, if it helps get your hopes up," said Drune, "this is a Maverick who singlehandedly wiped out a squad of RAS's best, brightest, and most-dangerous-with-weaponry. So we probably have a better chance than we usually do." 

"Very funny," said Andante. "Still, I have a funny feeling ... I had a weird dream last night ..." 

"Twexty slip a Scottish monologue in your program?" asked Arvisven. 

"I object to that remark very strongly," said Twexty, coming out from behind a stack of boxes holding a large bazooka. "If I _had_ dun somthin' laek that, I wouldn't have given her Scottish monologues. I would have given her Scottish comic books." 

"I hate it when you're right," said Arvisven. 

"It wasn't like that," said Andante. "It was like ... I don't know. Like something was programmed into my mind before and I didn't know I knew it, and it came up in the dream ... if that makes sense." 

"Uh, nope!" said Drune. 

"Perfectly," said Arvisven. 

"Och," said Twexty. 

"Blah," said Jakesten with a shrug. 

"Has everyone got a satisfactory weapon?" asked the Doctor, entering. 

There was a collective "Yeah" around the room from other Reploids. 

"Good," said the Doctor. "Would anyone who hasn't been on a mission before and doesn't have a helmet please report to the equipment room." He left. 

* * * * *

All the helmets were in racks, had a transparent window on the forehead for the wearer's control crystal, and every single one of them was a uniform shade of grey that was precisely unappealing to the optics. 

"When you select one," said the Doctor, "the helmet changes colors -- permanently -- to match your armor." He glanced around at the new recruits and noted that Andante still had green and black metal armor instead of flex-armor. "The 'window' here makes the control crystal visible and, since it is made from a modified, transparent, phenomenally expensive version of the material of Metool helmets, it is almost completely indestructible. It would take someone as strong as Sigma in a blind rage to break through it. Who wishes to choose first? Dexter?" 

A somewhat chubby-looking Reploid called DXTR -- or Dexter -- had stepped forward. He examined the choices available, and chose a somewhat blocky helmet. He put it on, and it immediately glowed for an instant and changed red and blue to match his flex-armor. 

"Nice choice, Dexter," said the Doctor. "Who's next? Ryu?" 

The humanoid Reploid -- this one had and obvious strength, and flex-armor that strangely looked like some sort of karate outfit -- examined the selection, and chose a helmet with lots of fins and ridges that gave the impression he was about to rocket for you. He put it on, and like Dexter's, it immediately glowed before changing to match his flex-armor. 

"It certainly fits your style, Ryu," said the Doctor. "Who will be next? Andante?" 

Andante stepped up and chose a much more rounded helmet. She put it on. It glowed as the others had, but the light sustained itself for a moment, warbling and humming as if in confusion, until it finally settled on her green and black. 

"Interesting, Andante," said the Doctor. "That helmet is an almost exact replica of the style worn by Mega Man X. Who wishes to be next? MB924?" 

And so it continued, until all the others had gone after her. After a brief speech about the importance of proper helmet maintenance, the Doctor dismissed them. Andante found herself standing next to Dexter. "You're that old one who was found in the capsule, weren't you?" he asked. 

"Yes," said Andante. "Why?" 

"Well, is it true that you were built a hundred and fifty years ago?" Dexter said. 

"About that," said Andante, mildly annoyed. She wondered why he was going on like this and where he was going with it. 

"Well, I've heard a rumor that you were built by Dr. Light," he said. "And now I _know_ it's even more ridiculous than it sounds." 

"Thanks for telling me," said Andante. She looked up and saw Jakesten staring at her in surprise. "Excuse me a moment," she said to Dexter and changed course. 

"Um, Andante," said Jakesten as she approached, "you're ..." 

"Yeah, I know," she said. "And I'm not the reincarnation of Mega Man X." 

"Last I heard, he wasn't dead," muttered Jakesten. "But no one's heard from him since the RAS started..." 

"I can't believe it!" exclaimed Drune, walking up to them with Twexty. "Someone _else_ picked the X helmet!" 

Andante realized for the first time that Drune was also wearing that style. "I guess no one else was bold enough," she said with a shrug. 

"Aye, lass, ye've def'nitely got a fine spirit!" said Twexty, slapping her on the back. "It'll do ye good in combat!" 

"Thanks," said Andante. "I won't disappoint you." 

"So, when're we going to fight this Maverick?" asked Jakesten. 

"As soon as we find it," said Andante. 

"Will that take a while?" asked Drune. 

_"May I have your attention please,"_ said the Doctor's voice in their heads. _"Would all Reploids assigned to the latest Maverick Mission please report to the main assembly hall."_

* * * * *

**The Maverick in question paused in its siphoning of energy from the power cables. It sensed something unusual, and in its profession -- that of silent predator -- even illogical, extrasensory feelings were to be accounted for. In many cases, listening to them and acting upon them saved one's life. **

And so it teleported away and fled from its landing point, but the sensation was still there. It paused, and the feeling took on a form. It suddenly _knew_ what the sensation was and why it was there; it _knew_ that some would soon try to oppose it, and where they were. 

A wolfish grin formed under the skull-like mask. It teleported to the top of Mt. Fuji in Japan, and searched for anything that would note its presence to those beneath. 

_Here I am!_ It all but shouted these words, running, leaping, dancing among the rocks in the ancient volcano. Here it was, and then, getting as close to one these sensors as possible ... 

... it teleported far away. It knew they would find it there. 

And it knew that they stood no chance. 

* * * * *

There was a hum, and then a dozen Reploids materialized in Colorado. This was a commonplace occurence, since Reploids were warping in and out of the Rocky Mountain State all the time, but these twelve Reploids were in a remote part of the Grand Canyon simultaneously, and they had a more military purpose than most. It was at sunset. 

"Am I the only one who thinks that this was suspiciously easy?" asked Ryu. 

"No," said Drune. "We _all_ think that." 

"Aye, lad, the thing's ready for us!" said Twexty. "Ye'd be a fool not t' think _tha'_!" 

"Wonderful," said Andante. "We've got something that singlehandedly wiped out fifty of the best RAS officers, and we're right where it wants us. 

"Actually, I made sure we were half a kilometer away," said Dexter. "Just so we don't get caught half-materialized. 

"Okay, that makes us half a kilometer away from right where it wants us," said Jakesten. "Now where's Arvisven?" 

"Boo," said Arvisven. 

All eleven of the others whirled around to face him. "Thank you," said Jakesten. "Now don't do that again." 

One of the others -- a catlike Reploid Andante didn't recognize -- said, "Where're we gonna find it?" 

"Um ..." said Dexter, looking around and pointing down the canyon. "That way. Unless it's moved." 

They started down the trail, each in their own particular set of morbid thoughts, all reasonably unaware that they were being watched. 

"I'm getting a signal," said another of the others. "It's ... nothing like anything OMNI or the RAS uses. It's coming from that cave." 

They approached it. "Okay," said Arvisven. "So this is where the crazy blue Maverick leaps out and attacks us head-on." 

"That, or we all go in to investigate, we find a small signal-generating device, and it attacks us from behind," said Drune. 

"How do you know?" asked Andante. 

"Lots of horror movies," said Drune. 

"Then let's not go in there," said Jakesten. "We'll wait for it to come up with some sort of long, metal object for it to attack us with before --" 

"Actually, I usually attack with whatever is available," said a demonic voice above them. "I just seem to find lots of long, metal objects." 

They looked up. If Zero had been a red terror, this one was a blue horror. They had all seen the half-blurred photo taken by spies, but it wasn't the same as actually facing this Reploid. It stood in a seemingly relaxed position that belied its ability to destroy, and there was a feeling of it being there, a _presence_, that no photograph could simulate. It was definitely a being designed to kill, and there was no question about it. 

Twexty was the first to recover. He raised his arm and fired, a bolt of red energy with beams of yellow and green, as well as a regular burst of yellow and green that managed to make the blast look like it was _plaid._ Ryu was next, and then all of them were firing at it in a rainbow of energy that pummeled the Maverick. 

All except Andante. She still had her machinesaber, but she had a strange reluctance to use it. _What is it? What is this? Why can't I attack ...?_

After a moment, the blasts died down. The blue Maverick simply stood there, in exactly the same position as before. There was barely any indication that they had even fired upon it. There was a moment of horrified silence. 

And then, it was broken in an entirely different manner from any expected. "Who are you?" exclaimed Andante. 

The blue Maverick paused. It seemed puzzled. "I have never been asked that before," it said. "I am called One Alpha." There was a short pause. "No matter. I am designed to kill, and so kill you I will!" 

It leaped down, holding a large boulder over its head. Ryu punched the boulder, shattering it. The Maverick called One Alpha growled and _bodily lifted Ryu over its head and threw him at the others, knocking them over. Arvisven fired a sonic blast. No effect. Jakesten and Drune fully charged their arm cannons and fired together. No effect. Two of the others charged at it, but with one powerful swipe of its hands, it knocked the head off one and sent the other sprawling towards Dexter. Dexter ducked, trying to cover his head with his hands. No effect; the Reploid crashed into him and they both fell. Another Reploid attacked with a blue-bladed machinesaber. No effect; the armor was something that they had never faced before. Three others tried to launch small missiles, but it leaped out of the way and the blast knocked boulders loose and crushed some of the defenders and --_

And Andante armed her machinesaber and sliced the Maverick's arm cleanly off. She was probably more surprised at this than any of the others, including One Alpha. 

"Im -- impossible!!" said One Alpha, clutching its injured side. "I -- nobody knows where the seams are! _Nobody!_" It glared at Andante. Those survivors who were close by thought they heard another voice, under the modifications from the mask. "You ... rrghhh ... can't ... defeat ... me ...!" 

Andante swung her fist at One Alpha's control crystal. She didn't have the strength of Sigma in a blind rage, so it didn't even crack the protective covering. It did, however, cause the skull-like mask to fall off... 

... and, given the twisted look of pure rage on One Alpha's face, Andante decided that she preferred the mask. Some there knew that, according to Shakespeare, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," and if they had ever doubted it, they now had a living (so to speak), breathing, lying-on-ground-clutching-wounded-side-whilst-giving-Andante-an-evil-look example of this fact. 

Drune wasted no time. He grabbed One and pointed his arm cannon directly into her face. "Nothing personal," he said. "This is just my job." 

"You haven't beaten me yet," snarled One Alpha, and then she dematerialized. 

Unfortunately, Drune was still grabbing One's arm, and she therefore took him with her. 

"Crap," said Twexty. They all felt this way. 

* * * * *

**The Maverick known as One Alpha hurtled along in non-space, somehow aware that it, oh all right, she, was dragging her attacker with her. She needed to get away, she needed to get repairs, she needed to somehow get rid of this green idiot before something _worse_ happened to her. **

Suddenly, though, she felt her warp signal diverted. _Diverted!_ Who was capable of changing the direction of someone else's teleportation!? She decided she must have strayed too close to a warp transciever, little knowing how many of these relays there were. She found herself shunted along, and finally downwards. Here, in the depths of some underground fortress, she materialized. So, of course, did the green Maverick Hunter (as she assumed he was), whose first action was to say, "Nothing personal. I just want to run away." 

"There is no purpose in trying to escape," said a deep voice from off the teleport pad. They looked, and the green one yelped in alarm. 

And then suddenly, strangely, illogically, but above all, _surely_, One Alpha had the feeling of being home. 


	4. Maverick

Disclaimer: All rights reserved by whoever gets at them first. And it looks like Capcom's ahead. Then me ... then Erico ... oops. Better start the chapter. 

_**Mega Man X**_13_:_   
In Search of Lost Time 

Chapter 4: "Maverick" 

"What kind of casualties are we looking at?" asked The Doctor. 

"Exel, Talon, Neko, and MXB2 were killed," said Jakesten. "Everyone else except Andante was injured, and Drune is ... missing." 

"Missing?" asked Doctor de Capo. 

"When she warped away, she took Drune with her," said Andante. 

"Blast," said Edward. "He was one of our best." 

"Hmm," said the Doctor. "I suppose we have no choice but to count him as dead, given the capabilities of One Alpha. Now, Andante, how did you defeat the Maverick?" 

Andante shrugged. "I have no idea. I just ... did it. I think it may have been some sort of instinct programmed into me ..." 

All three of them turned to Edward. "What!?" said the computer. "Oh come on, how would _I_ know!?" 

"Because you've been monitoring her brain for the past one hundred forty-seven years," said the Doctor pointedly. 

Edward sighed. (It is at this point worth noting that, being a computer, he didn't have anything even remotely resembling lungs, and so the term "sigh" is used to indicate he played the sound of his voiceprint exhaling in the manner described as "sigh") "All right. It was an instinct programmed into Andante specifically for the purpose of defeating that one Maverick." 

"Who built her?" asked Jakesten. "Either of them." 

"I believe that One Alpha was built by a commonly-known mad scientist, named Dr. Albert Wily," said Edward, ignoring the electric surprise that this answer generated. "He was much more secretive about One, but he was simultaneously in the process of building a male Reploid known as Zero Omega." 

"So _that's_ what that was about," said Jakesten. 

"Yes," said Edward. "As for Andante, she was built by a Dr. Stephen Halvorsen. No more I will tell you until the right time." 

"Would you care to define this 'right time' for us?" asked the Doctor. 

"Certainly. The right time is when One leaves us no other choice. Now if you'll excuse me," and he switched off. 

"I hate it when he does that," muttered Jakesten. 

"I'm almost tempted to have a data sifter go through that impertinent laptop," said the Doctor, tapping a key on his computer in response to a comm chime. "Yes? -- Gaius, you know better than to try to contact us directly!!" 

The black Reploid flinched on the monitor. _"I'm afraid I have been infected by the Maverick Virus and transmitted it on to Drune,"_ he said. 

"What!?" exclaimed all three. 

_"I was careless with my transciever, and I recieved a relatively minor virus in my electronic mail system,"_ said Gaius. _"It sent a copy of itself to Drune before I could remove it, and the Maverick Virus also sent itself."_

"When was this?" asked the Doctor. 

_"Yesterday. Early afternoon. I am almost at the end of the first phase."_

"Well, I'm sorry to hear this," said the Doctor, resignedly. "Can you ..." He paused. "Can you end your own existence to prevent the spread?" 

_"No,"_ said Gaius. _"Even during the second phase, the Third Law is still too strong."_ He winced again. 

"What are these 'phases?'" muttered Andante to Jakesten. 

"They're phases of your condition as the Maverick Virus attacks the Three Laws," he said. "In the first phase, it attacks the Second Law, and you get lapses in judgement. In the second phase, it attacks the Third Law, and you get big headaches. In the third phase ..." He gave a grim smile. 

_"You must warn Drune about this,"_ said Gaius. 

"Drune's dead," said the Doctor. 

_"Ah,"_ said Gaius. He bowed his head. _"Perhaps it is for the best. I hope ... If you should encounter me ... Please don't hesitate to destroy me."_ He cancelled the connection. 

Andante was chilled. She knew of the dangers of exposure to the Maverick Virus, but had never really comprehended what it was like when someone one knew succombed. Most Reploids knew that Mavericks were _evil_ and could never have any virtues save those that stood out against their genocidal nature. And yet here was someone whom Drune had known personally, and who was warning them that he had now become infected. 

There was a moment of silence. 

"This is starting to get worse," said the Doctor. 

But he didn't really know _how_ much worse. 

* * * * *

**One Alpha stood looking into the cell occupied by the green Reploid known as Drune. He was collapsed on the floor, clutching his head. Unconsciously, One flexed her replacement arm, knowing how near she had gome to death at the hands of this Maverick Hunter.** Things were different now. 

"Hello, One," said Vortex Falcon, entering. 

One glanced in the avian Reploid's direction, still not used to this kind of courtesy, or for that matter any courtesy at all. Up until now, her habit was killing people, not talking to them (except with taunts). "Hello, Falcon," she said. 

Falcon glanced at Drune. "We found something new out," he said. "It seems he was infected with the Maverick Virus before you got him." 

"Oh," said One, not sure to respond. The concept of alliance was new to her. "Does that mean he'll be ... one of us?" 

"Yes," said Falcon. "It'll take another day. And once he lets us get _near_ him to perform repairs, he'll be a formidable ally." He gazed at the prone green form. "For now, though, he's in the Second Phase. We'll show him that human we caught and see how he likes it." 

One smiled. The concept of destroying humans was familiar enough to her. "Is there really a chance that he _won't_ act on these new instincts?" 

"Of course not," said Falcon. "But speculation is _fun_." 

One added "speculation" to the growing number of things considered "fun." The first thing she had added after "destruction" and "victory" was "recharging in a capsule designed for Reploids instead of drawing energy from a power cable." "I wonder if he'll be nervous that I have a grudge?" 

"Do you?" asked Falcon. 

"Not really," said One. "It was that other Reploid ... the one who cut my arm off ..." 

Falcon blinked. "I thought _this_ guy cut your arm off." 

"No," said One. "It was soneone else. Someone with a machinesaber." A silence descended for a moment. "I just ... I want to kill her. Of course, I want to kill _everyone._" 

"That joke," said Falcon critically, "has been around for longer than you've existed." 

One grimaced. "I'm a bit behind the times," she said. 

"I know," said Falcon, "but ... Excuse me. The boss is calling, and it sounds like he's got interesting news ..." 

* * * * *

Andante was turning off the holovid in her room when Jakesten arrived. 

"Well, I did a search," he said when she let him in. 

"What did you find?" asked Andante. 

"The only reference to any Stephen Halvorsen a hundred and fifty years ago was a scientist. The exact details of the place were classified, and I didn't want to push my luck, but he worked, and most likely died ..." He brought up a map up on the monitor. "Around here." 

Andante looked. "That was around where the Zero capsule was discovered," she said. 

"Yeah," said Jakesten. "Kinda gives us an idea of why you were made to kill 'that particular Reploid'." 

"Now hold on a minute," said Andante. "The timing's all wrong. The first Sigma uprising was discovered almost two years before I was put in the capsule, and Zero was a key player there. And anyway, how would he want to go after One if it was Zero?" 

"Hmm," said Jakesten. "Okay, let's try a different theory: One showed up there, too, but in the dark some of them couldn't see that her armor was blue instead of red ... But then how did she ..." 

"I think we're going to need to wait for whatever 'the right time' is," said Andante. "But maybe I'll do some searching of my own. Did you check for any descendants?" 

"You know," said Jakesten, turning to leave, "that really didn't cross my mind. Oh, go ahead, maybe you'll find something I didn't." 

Andante watched him go, unsure of how to respond. He hadn't seemed offended, but his choice of words ... She had the personality that would be equivalent to an almost fully grown human being, but she had very little experience since, in terms of having been active, she wasn't even a month old. She activated the computer and wondered about life, but decided something as mystifying and confusing as all that wasn't worth examining. 

* * * * *

Drune sat up in the cell. The headaches were receding now, and he felt that if something decided to walk in and converse with him, he was theoretically capable of doing so, even if he didn't feel like it. He went over his system status, and decided that, besides the headaches, he _really_ needed to get repairs before he overloaded himself. There were a few dents from the battle with that Maverick, and his Flex-Armor had lost its glossy sheen. 

The oddest feeling of all was one of resentment. He wasn't sure why; when he tried to attatch it to various thoughts, he felt that there was no connection. Not even that he'd been warped all the way to who knew where and dumped in the cell by -- 

He grimaced at the thought of the Maverick "boss," and abruptly he made the connection: his resentment was toward humans. He couldn't find any reason much, he just resented them. Resented their puny weakness, their smarmy self-assuredness, their ludicrous success, their RAS -- Ah, that was it. The fact that they were hunting him and his friends down just because they were Reploids and might go Maverick any moment. He resented it. 

He realized he must have gotten the Maverick Virus somewhere. Oddly, he didn't mind much, inasmuch as the most basic components of his mind -- the Three Laws -- had been tampered with and the first two completely rewired. 

His thoughts were interrupted by a new arrival in the detention area. 

"Gaius!" he exclaimed. "So you got it, too!" 

The black Reploid turned to him. "Hello, Drune," he said. "If you're referring to the Maverick Virus, I actually got it before you did." 

"Cool," said Drune. "Um ... can I get repaired?" 

Gaius shrugged. "That is beyond my authority for now, but we _will_ definitely repair you if you kill an RAS officer." 

"I've been wanting to," he said, standing up. 

"I will be your guard," said Gaius, leading him out of the cell. "We know for certain that you've been infected with the Virus, but we just want to be sure you won't turn on _us_." 

"Hey," said Drune. "You know I won't turn against you, and if this is your side ..." 

"That is what I expected," said Gaius. "Here we are." 

They were in front of a cell containing a lone human male in an RAS Military uniform. "Him?" asked Drune. 

"That is the one we want you to destroy," said Gaius. 

Drune grinned and powered up his arm cannon. 

* * * * *

The blue Reploid sat with his eyes closed, letting the memories wash over him. 

Where Andante had been placed in a capsule for a hundred and fifty years and had been active for a relatively small time, this Reploid had been placed in a capsule for a relatively small time ... and had been active for a century and a half. 

Mega Man X slumped at the desk, not from physical fatigue, but from a world weariness that had been on his shoulders for the past few decades. He had battled Sigma more than twelve times, and for what? Peace? The battle continued endlessly, and all his oldest friends were gone. The friends he'd had at the beginning who had died in Sigma's first insurrection ... Dr. Cain had died of old age a few decades after the fourth attack ... Signas had been captured and infected -- _and destroyed by X's own hands_ -- during the ninth battle ... Alia had died in the destruction of the first attempted interstellar voyage ... And Zero ... 

A sigh escaped him. Zero had been lost not once, not twice, but _three times_ now. First, he had sacrificed himself to defeat Vile. Second, Sigma had almost managed to destroy him the fifth time -- The Maverick Hunters had thought he had succeeded. And now, he was placed in a capsule for a century or more to restore an energy imbalance that threatened to destroy him. 

X's one consolation was that in a little less than twenty-five years, Zero would be reactivated. Of course, given the current run of luck, Zero would probably explode due to some unforseen problem before then. The red Reploid's proud boast that there was no force in the Universe that could stop him seemed somewhat hollow now. 

But something new was troubling him. It was an odd feeling, but he had managed to pinpoint it: he found that he no longer was bound to the First Law. It finally hit him when he discovered that he had ordered the execution of a cell of rebels ... consisting of humans. 

_A robot or Reploid must not harm a human being, nor through inaction allow a human to come to harm ..._ Was he going Maverick? He didn't have the Maverick Virus, but it wasn't really necessary to the process; before Zero had been discovered by Sigma, many Reploids were going Maverick without the Virus just fine, which was why Zero had been discovered in the first place, when Garma's unit from the Maverick Hunters uncovered that capsule whilst searching that area for a reported blue Maverick ... 

And from there, of course, the memories came forth. He had a lot of those, and very few of them were pleasant. But then one memory stuck out, and he found himself almost reliving it ... 

* * * * *

_The two shuttles descended from the Final Weapon as it was consumed by atomic fires. X looked back at the explosion, wondering what Zero was thinking about. Probably Iris; X knew that there was a possibility that she might be rebuilt and repaired ... if not for the fact that her body was destroyed with the space station. _

But something else was troubling him now. They knew now what the Maverick Virus was, and that Sigma had somehow bonded with it, becoming veritably immortal. They knew now that even if they became immune to going Maverick by force of will, they could still go Maverick if they became infected with the Virus. 

He opened up a comm link with the other shuttle. "Zero, are you there?" he asked. 

"What is it, X?"_ came the red Reploid's voice. He sounded deadened, confirming X's earlier suspicions. _

"You know about the Virus now," said X. "And even if I had testing for thirty years ..." 

"I think I know where your going with that,"_ said Zero, _"and I'm not sure I like where it's going. What do you want?"

X steeled himself; it was the hardest thing he would ever say. "If I ever go Maverick, I want you to destroy me." 

If anything, he got Zero's attention. "What!? X, that's --"

"Promise me," said X. "I don't think I can live with what I might become. Please." 

There was a pause at the other end. "...All right, X. I promise."_ There was a bitter chuckle. _"After all, that's my job, isn't it?"

"Yeah," said X, almost feeling better. But he was still troubled ... 

* * * * *

But he was still troubled. It hadn't taken the Maverick Virus. It hadn't even taken a real justifiable dislike for the way a human or a group was behaving. It had just taken a hundred and fifty years. For all intents and purposes, he could go completely berserk and start wiping out people right and left. And there was nothing he could do about it. 

The comm at his desk beeped. X jumped, then composed himself as best he could. "What is it?" he asked. 

_"Sir, there's a team of Mavericks attacking Neo-Tokyo!"_ said the voice. _"Who are we going to send?"_

X suddenly felt better. A Maverick attack was something he could handle. "Me," he said with a slight smile. 

* * * * *

One, Gaius, and Drune were having the time of their lives. Drune was turning out to be even more formidable as an ally than as an opponent. (Of course, the upgrades the other Mavericks had given him were probably a help.) Gaius was obviously proud of being "master of finesse." And One was not only reveling in the destruction, it was now her _job_. And she _liked_ it. 

A beam of blue light suddenly shot down from the sky, and hit the ground out of their sight. The figure it coalesced into snapped his fingers, and was instantly surrounded by a formidable array of armor and weaponry. 

"I have never had a better time in my _life_," said Gaius, annihilating a car with his beamsaber. "Uh-oh." 

"Gaius?" said Drune, turning just in time to see the black Reploid thrown straight at him. "Oh, _sh..._" 

One paused in her disassembly of a store front. She turned around and saw the ludicrously beweaponed Reploid. 

"One based off my Shadow armor," he muttered, "and the other off my old Ultimate ..." He saw One and froze in shock. 

"So ..." One gazed at him. "You are Mega Man X." 

"What ..." The look on his face seemed incongruous with his clear physical power. 

She gave him a warm, chilling smile. She knew just what to say to scare him further. "I was built," she said, "to destroy you." Raising her new arm cannon, she fired a blast of energy at the Reploid. 

Mega Man X just stood there gawking as the blast hit him and ... had very little effect. shook his head to clear it. "Nova Strike!" he shouted. Two jets extended from his shoulders and he blasted towards One, encased in an envelope of plasma. 

She jumped straight up and landed behind him. Raising her arms at him, she shouted, "Hadouken!" A blast of energy erupted from her hands. 

"What!?" exclaimed X, who only just managed to evade her attack in time. 

She was right next to him. "Senretsuyaku!" she called, and pummeled him with a series of powerful kicks. 

X was wearing the latest version of his Ultimate Armor, which sported a bit more gold plating than the first four. Still, even with that much defense, he actually _felt_ the attack damage his system. He collapsed on the ground. "Who _are_ you??" he exclaimed. 

"I," she said, with a laugh. "am One Alpha, the Doctor's penultimate creation!" She noted that Drune and Gaius were back on their feet. "You needn't worry -- yet. I'm sure that our leader would much rather you at least _saw_ who he was." 

X coughed. "Who's your leader?" he asked. 

This time, her smile was downright evil. "Who do you think?" she asked, and then laughed and teleported away. 

Gaius and Drune exchanged a glance, shrugged, ruined the moment, and also warped away. 

Mega Man X looked around at the destruction; he wouldn't be able to help the city's recovery. But now he knew that he was looking at yet _another_ Maverick Uprising. 


	5. Uprising

Disclaimer: Yadda, yadda, yadda, everything belongs to someone other than you, unless you're me, Toastyfrog, or anyone from Capcom. SIGMA W1LL R0X0R Y0R @S$X0R! Er, yeah. Chapter. 

_**Mega Man X**_13_:_   
In Search of Lost Time 

Chapter 5: "Uprising" 

It doesn't take a historical expert to know who the leader of every single Maverick Uprising has been (whether or not one counts the Nightmare Investigation). Therefore, no pretense will be made to hide his identity. He was nine feet tall, he was clad in blue-black armor, he was caped, he was bald, he was hated by all humans, and he was stronger than any other Reploid or Maverick in existence. 

He was Sigma, lord over all Mavericks. 

He was at this moment smiling pleasantly -- or as pleasantly as he could manage, given the awesome power and menace that was always in his face. "I am pleased to meet you, One Alpha," he said. "It is not often one finds oneself speaking with a creation of Doctor Wily older even than Zero." 

"I am at your service," said One, feeling a strange sense of awe. "I finally feel that I can relate to a certain place, that I'm, well, home." 

A chuckle rumbled from the Dark Lord. "That is unsurprising. I actually carry the original Maverick Virus that came from your brother, Zero Omega himself." 

One seemed satisfied. "Yes," she murmured. "The original Maverick Virus. Do you know where my brother is now?" 

Sigma frowned. "It appears that he has been placed inside a capsule for the time being," he said. "Removing him prematurely may kill him." 

"I see," said One Alpha, sounding disappointed. "Our creator had a mission for us ..." 

Sigma nodded. "He and I had quite similar goals," he said. "Both of us wished for dominion over our kind." 

* * * * *

"Och, if ye'd just wait a minut', ye needn't crowd!" barked Plaid Terrier Twexty from the control room of the tremendous screen in the auditorium. "Sit down, and we can put it up already!" 

The image of a reporter appeared on the screen. "-- at ten thirty PM, a trio of Mavericks attacked Neo Tokyo." The image of three indistinct shapes -- one green, one black, and one blue -- causing mass destruction appeared inset. "Mega Man X, the leader of the Reploid Authority System, arrived to neutralize --" 

"You never told me it was _him_," hissed Andante. 

"Sorry," whispered Jakesten, and they were both bombarded by a collective "_Shh!_" from those immediately around them, who were joined those around _them,_ and so on until nearly every single Reploid in the room had shushed those nearer to Andante and Jakesten. 

"-- defeated by the blue Maverick, who revealed her name to be One Alpha," continued the reporter, oblivious to the events surrounding one of the televisions on which this was being displayed. Meanwhile, the inset images of destruction were replaced by a closeup of One Alpha, accompanied by the caption, _Extracted from Reploid memory_. "Due to a reference she made to their 'leader' with the indication that Mega Man X should know him, it can only be assumed that Sigma, who has attempted an insurrection twelve times in the past, has returned and will shortly attempt a thirteenth battle. For News Network 47, I'm Faye Gabbiani." 

It cut to another reporter. "Thank you. I'm Kent Br --" 

Twexty shut off the television. "So, y'see what we've got now," he said. "It seems that the RAS en't gonna need us for much longer." 

_"You may dispense with the glibness, Plaid Terrier,"_ said the voice of Dr. de Capo over the sound system. _"This is a serious threat we have here."_

Twexty jerked his head up towards one of the loudspeakers. "I _know_ it is, but we cannae _always_ be all solemn faces aroun' unpresent unpleasant company!" 

This got the desired ripple of humor that ran through the crowd. "Where does he _get_ these one-liners?" muttered Andante. 

"Oh, you know," said Jakesten. "Too much television." 

_"In any event, we must prepare for whatever form the Thirteenth Maverick Uprising takes,"_ said the Doctor drily. _"Our primary directive may be in protest against the Reploid Authority System, but that doesn't mean we can simply let the Mavericks destroy the world."_ This was met by cheers. 

As they filed out of the room, Arvisven said, "So what do we do now? Look for the eight locations that Sigma's put his Maverick Generals and defeat each of them and gain their weapons in a specific order that each one we pick has a weakness against the last one's weapon?" 

"I don't think we're going to work like that," said Andante. 

"Andante," said Arvisven with mock annoyance, "you aren't in charge here." 

"Neither are you," put in Jakesten. 

"It seems that you are correcting Andante for doing something you did yourself," said Ryu. 

"Aw, c'mon," said Arvisven. "Can't a guy inflate his ego once in a while??" 

"No," said Jakesten, Andante, and Ryu. 

Arvisven threw up his hands. "What is this world coming to??" 

"A Maverick Uprising," said Ryu. 

There was a pause, and then Arvisven said, "That would do it." 

* * * * *

One Alpha wasn't used to dealing with a Reploid hamster, nor with an eight-foot rodent. Combining the two and adding a primary attack that involved launching snares at the opponent made Grappler Hamster a somewhat odd Maverick. 

"Before you comment," said Grappler Hamster, "yes, I'm weird, but at least I'm not Infinity Mijinion or Flame Ptarmigan or the worst one of 'em all, Cyber E-Coli. So, hello, One!" He waved a paw. 

"Hello, Grappler," One said doubtfully. "What function will you have in this uprising?" 

"I'm in charge of messing up with this construction system," said Grappler. "Grabbing stuff and throwing it around is fun!" 

"I can't disagree with you there," said One with a grim smirk. "Especially when it's your opponent." 

"Ohhhh yeah," said Grappler. "That's the best part! You should try it with humans!" 

"I can't wait," said One. "Mind if I join your assigned location?" 

"Uh, actually, the boss has a special job for you," said Saber Swan, who entered the rec room at that moment. "Since you don't have any actual weaknesses, you've been assigned to a separate group. You're going to be in charge of attacking several strategic locations that we want to destroy as opposed to conquer." He handed her a map. 

One unfolded the map and looked it over. After a moment of eyeing it in silence, she smiled. It was her first mission in the Maverick ranks, and already it looked like it was going to be a lot of fun. 

* * * * *

Every modern building in every city nowadays had a special switch that was thrown by the powers that be in the event of a Maverick attack. The switch sent a message to RASHQ -- formerly Maverick Hunter HQ -- and the RAS responded as soon as possible to deal with and neutralize the threat. This happened at eight at night (Neo Tokyo time) on June 18, 2266, but to a surprising degree. 

Mega Man X stood in the main control room and stared. _"Nine!?"_ he exclaimed. 

"Yes, sir," said Cala, one of the Reploids at a console. "Each at strategic locations. Definitely looks like Sigma's handiwork. But the one here ..." She indicated the alert marker in New York. "...seems more intent on destruction than on taking control." 

"I'm going there first," said X. He donned his Ultimate Armor and teleported away. 

He found himself near the World Trade Center Monument. Ah, that one relic from even before World War III ... He saw signs of destruction heading his way, so he went in that direction to attack whatever it was. 

Obviously, a group of Mavericks. He quickly dispatched a trio on the ground, managed to destroy one in a Golaith Ride Armor. He then began to charge his X-Buster in case he needed more firepower. 

A blue blur blasted out of a building and headed his way. X quickly fired a fully-charged Level 4 Super Shot at whatever it was. It halted in midair with a yell of rage and landed on the ground in front of him. X smirked. He knew who this was. 

"I underestimated you before," he said. "I won't again." 

"You were lucky just now," snarled One Alpha. "I will destroy you faster than you can think!" 

She charged. X considered his options, ducked, and threw himself out of the way at the last moment with his dash thrusters. One's head clipped his left leg; it didn't really do much damage, but it _hurt_. And it brought him down to 98% power. Darn. 0Not for the first time, X wished that he wasn't _that_ much like a human. But he managed to hit her with a Nova Strike. One Alpha was sent sprawling. 

"Did you know," said X, "that every Maverick who considered me weak has been killed? -- Whoa!" He jumped to avoid a super shot, landed in time to avoid a second that had been aimed higher, and then dashed to the side to avoid a third. 

"No, I didn't," said One, "but I'm going to take the opposite stance! You're skilled, and you don't make the same mistake twice!" 

X drew a beamsaber he liked to use, and flicked it on. Its yellow glow lit up the area. "The feeling is mutual," he said. "Except that I think of you as more a berserker than skilled." He held it in an _en garde_ position. 

One fired a few minor plasma shots, all of which X deflected. She then drew a machinesaber and armed it, revealing a green blade. "If you can't beat 'em with skill, beat 'em with brute force." 

They approached each other cautiously. "I'd've thought it worked the other way around," said X, and then swung the saber in a powerful side swing. One deflected it, then viciously slashed at X's head. X ducked and thrust forward. One swung downwards and held X's blade down. 

"Weaknesses don't help you when your enemy is a hundred times as strong as you," said One. 

X smirked. "When you attack, you have no defense," he said. Then he turned his beamsaber off. 

This was extremely risky, because One Alpha may very well have been able to thrust forward and finish him then and there. However, not making the same mistake twice usually requires that one make the mistake the first time, and X had time to dash backwards as One stumbled. 

"That was a dirty trick," she said icily. 

"All's fair in love and war," said X, "especially when you can get everyone who isn't involved to approve." He armed his saber again. 

One raised her machinesaber, but then changed her mind, switched it to gun mode, and began firing. X had a hard time deflecting every single shot. He missed one and was thrown backwards, a hole in his chest. He was now at 32% remaining power. One charged forward to finish him off. 

Then suddenly, luck intervened. Two things happened. 

First, someone tossed a full Sub Tank to him. He didn't see who it was, but he quickly installed it and drained it, restoring his life energy. 

Second of all, a shot from behind sent One sprawling before she was ten feet away from X. A female Reploid in green and black armor -- Hey! Actual metal, not Flex-Armor! -- _and a helmet in X's style_ -- rushed over and began fighting One using a purple-bladed machinesaber. 

A bat-like Reploid came to X's side and began patching up the hole with a Reploid first-aid kit. "Looks like you got hit hard, but you'll live!" he said cheerfully in a way that grated X's nerves. 

"Who the hell are you?" asked X sharply. 

The bat straightened and saluted. "Sonic Bat RV-7, Lieutenant of organization OMNI at your service, Commander Mega Man X." He took a bow. 

X glared, getting to his feet. "Aren't you a group of Mavericks?" he said threateningly. 

Sonic Bat was either obtuse or deliberately annoying. "Nope," he said cheerily. He turned and fired a sonic wave at some of the other Mavericks. "We make it a point to avoid so much as _scratching_ humans, so the best we can manage is terrorists, and maybe if we let our act down murderers, who unlike Mavericks get fair trials." His eyes narrowed. "Oh, wait, that's _humans_ I'm thinking about, isn't it?" 

"Arvisven, stop antagonizing the megalomaniac!" said a humanoid Reploid in red and white Flex-Armor, walking over and firing at a Bee Bomber. "We want to make him feel guilty, not alienate him!" 

"Aw, Jakesten, you're no fun!" said Arvisven. 

"Guilty about _what?_" said X warily. 

"Unlike us, you're a Maverick," Jakesten said bluntly. 

"WHAT!?" thundered X. At least, he _tried_ to thunder, but it came out weakly. 

"Your organization, the Reploid Authority System, has not only been arresting Reploids and executing them without a fair trial or even cause, but has recently arrested and executed groups of humans," said Jakesten. This was walking through a minefield, but it had to be done. X had obviously known about OMNI, but he needed to know why it existed. 

Mega Man X neither confirmed nor denied, but instead bit his lip and looked doubtful for a moment. "All executions are done by humans," he muttered, staring at the ground. "I'm just ..." 

"... the head of the organization," said Jakesten. 

"Good, so you don't harm any human beings," said Arvisven in a bored tone of voice. Then he brightened. "But you can pardon 'em all you want, and you don't, so you're through inaction allowing 'em to come to harm, and that's _still_ violating the First Law, which makes you a Maverick. Not only that, but you haven't _obeyed_ any humans lately, have you, so you're also violating the Second Law. And the Third Law of Robotics is pretty much the same as the Third Law of Mavericks: 'Survive.' Uh, did I just strike a nerve?" 

"That's what you're best at," said Jakesten dryly, running over to another Maverick with a machinesaber. "Now don't do it again." 

Meanwhile, One and Andante were in the thick of it. Andante had the advantage of having been designed specifically to fight One, but now One had a saber of her own and a few tricks. One parried a slash to her left and turned it into a jab. Andante flipped backwards, tried to make a cut across One's legs. 

"Who _is_ she?" muttered X. 

"Which 'she'?" asked Arvisven, blasting away. 

X realized he didn't really know who _either_ of them was. "Both," he said. 

"One Alpha was apparently built by Dr. Wily right before the bad doctor built Zero Omega," said Arvisven. "Get it? One Alpha, Zero Omega, never mind. The girl who's surprisingly holding her own is Andante, who was built specifically to fight One about two years after Sigma." 

X calmly accepted these stunning revelations in the face of suddenly realizing something else. "The blue Maverick that Garma's unit went after!" 

Arvisven raised an eyebrow. It looked somewhat comical. "The ...?" 

"Garma's unit released Zero from a capsule when they were investigating a report of a blue Maverick in that area," said X. "I think I have an idea of who that blue Maverick was." He shrugged and swallowed his pride. "Look, as much as you're supposed to hate my guts, as the commander-in-chief of the RAS, I hereby ask for the assistance of vigilante group OMNI in dealing with this Maverick insurrection." 

"Done deal," said Jakesten, slicing his opponent in half. "And by the way, it seems the Maverick situation is under control here." 

X noted that the only Maverick left was One Alpha. "If she can singlehandedly keep _that_ thing at bay," he said, "then what are you doing here?" 

"We've just done it: assist you, get the treaty unofficially made," said Arvisven. "Also, backup." 

"What would you do if One Alpha defeats her?" asked X skeptically. 

"Most likely, die, given the results of the previous battle," said the bat with a slight bow. 

X frowned. "I'm going to stay here in case she _does_ fail." 

The force of the battle was increasing. Their strikes were becoming fiercer and more powerful, and each was getting closer to striking the other. Andante was totally engrossed with the battle, had no time for any thoughts about the risks or gains. One Alpha, on the other hand, was beginning to experience something that was almost totally alien to her: worry. All it would take was a twitch, she thought, and the purple blade -- depending on what Andante was doing at the moment -- could cut off her arm again, plunge into her heart and destroy her reactor, slice her cleanly in half, _melt her control crystal and annihilate her mind forever_ ... 

**Survive!** One Alpha knew that, no matter what, she had to defeat Andante. 

"Popcorn?" said Arvisven, holding up a bag. Jakesten took it, ate a handful, and dumped the rest of it over the bat's head. 

"You don't like him, do you?" said X. 

"Never been a requirement in OMNI," said Jakesten, swallowing. "How about the RAS?" 

"Watch it," said X. 

"As far as that goes, I don't think _either_ of us should appear on the other's home turf," said Jakesten. 

"That's a good idea," said X. 

The two blades swung. The two blades clashed. There was a terrific crash as if thunder had struck as they impacted each other. 

And Andante suddenly saw an opening. 

The world seemed to slow down. She drew her blade back and thrust it forward, the beam of plasma melting into the blue and white armor as if a knife through butter. As she did, she felt a sharp, burning, explosive pain in her stomach, and realized that her opponent had done precisely the same thing. She felt a bizzare sensation of nausea, extremely rare for a being of metal and plastic, and fell to the ground. The sky seemed to have an unusual shade of blue ... 

"_Andante!_" She heard someone rush to her side ... Red and white ... dizziness ... A shot ringing out ... Then the world began to fade. 

Andante wondered if One Alpha would wake up, one way or another. 

* * * * *

"A near thing, that was, but she'll probably live," said Twexty. He looked Jakesten in the eye. "If ye had'n'a come when ye did an' blocked that shot, this one's atoms'd be pushin' up the daisies." 

"You know, Twexty," said Arvisven, fiddling with a repair device, "there are times when I'm annoyed that I can't understand you, and times when I'm _glad_. Like right now." 

"'Twas a creative blendin' of metaphors, human and Reploid," said Twexty. 

"That particular type of 'blending' being 'puree,' of course," countered Arvisven. 

"Oh shut up, both of you," said Jakesten. Andante was still being repaired, and Jakesten was in no mood for jokes. He had no idea why; he was just mad. He hoped that One Alpha wouldn't survive, wherever she was now, but hoped just as much that she _had_ survived so he could ... could ... Whatever it was, he didn't know, but any outside observers would have noted its remarkable resemblance to revenge. Jakesten hated Mavericks, and wanted nothing more now than to destroy One Alpha. 

Twexty gave him a quizzical look. The one Arvisven gave him was downright infuriating. "Ah, is that a bit much concern I'm seeing for just _friends_??" 

Jakesten gave Arvisven a look of such hatred that had it been _for_ the bat, he would have probably melted. "If you don't shut up about that right now, dammit, so help me I will take this machinesaber and slice you in half!" 

Arvisven could very easily have given him a remark that would have increased his fury, but this would probably involve not living for very long. "Um," he said. "Okay." 

"Well I've done all I can," said Twexty. "We only need wait." 

"I'll stay here," said Jakesten. 

Twexty and Arvisven left the medical wing. The Scottish canine Reploid made sure the door was closed, then turned to the bat and said, "Don't you know bett'r than t' mak' fun o' tha' sort o' thing when they're _true_?" 


	6. Aquaphobia

Disclaimer: Even though I may use some bits from Erico's works, it's primarily "The Physics of Mega Man" that I'm concerning myself with, not any of his actual stories, because the bits with Dr. Cossack make NO reference whatsoever to Ran. 

Also, the "Stage Intro" theme (i.e. the theme you hear when you're introduced to a boss you've selected), which I composed myself, can be found at http://firstreality.keenspace.com/images/X13-stageintro.mp3 or .wav or .mid if you want to hear it. So here's the chapter. 

_**Mega Man X**_13_:_   
In Search of Lost Time 

Chapter 6: "Aquaphobia" 

Jakesten was there when Andante awoke. He was sitting by the medical bed early in the morning, dozing. Her eyes fluttered open and after a moment, she sat up. "Jakesten ..." 

Jakesten jerked awake and saw her. "Andante!" He threw his arms around her. "You're all right ..." 

"Hey," she said, then blinked, remembering. "Was I ...? How long was I out?" 

Jakesten suddenly realzied how foolish this would probably look to any observers and disengaged himself. "You were out for almost a day," he said. "I'm ... it's just ..." 

Andante looked worried. "She's getting stronger ..." 

"Hey, don't worry about the Mavericks," he said. "The important thing is that you're all right." 

"But I was built to destroy One Alpha," began Andante, but Jakesten shook his head. 

"You shouldn't take a robotic point of view about it," he said. "I mean, yes, you're the only Reploid in the world who could cut off her arm, let alone scratch her, but that doesn't mean you can't think of anything else." 

At that moment, Twexty entered, followed by Edward (who had been hooked up to a small antigrav device). "Ah!" said Twexty, bustling over to the bedside. "Welcome back to th' world of th' livin', disreputable though it is. Now lie back down, th' shutdown mode en't exactly stasis, and ye're drained enough as it is what with me tryin' to fix a hundred'n'fifty-year-old Reploid with modern technology!" 

"I helped," said Edward. "It's good to see you fully functioning again." 

Andante lay back down with a smile. "Thanks for fixing me," she said. 

"Ye're welc'm, lass!" replied Twexty. "Now let's see about rechargin' ye. Jehkstin, goodbye!" 

Jakesten got up, grinning, knowing that when Twexty said "goodbye" in that tone of voice, he basically meant _Get out!_ "Goodbye," he said as he walked to the door. 

Just outside, Arvisven said, "Three ... two ... one ..." The door opened. "Ah, Jakesten, how's your girlfriend?" 

Jakesten shot Arvisven a scathing look, and for a moment it looked like this was the only response he was going to give the bat. Then he slowly smiled said, "I don't know about any _girlfriend_, but Andante's fine." He walked off. 

"Now I'm beginning to get envious," said Arvisven. He left in search of yet another way to annoy the hell out of everyone else. 

Meanwhile, Jakesten almost collided with Ryu. "Oops, sorry ..." 

"Ah, Jakesten," said Ryu. "The Doctor has requested that I order you to remove your metallic posterior from the medical wing if the assumption that you don't require any of the services there hold true, and also to report on Andante's condition." He retained his typical stoic expression, but his lips were twitching at this point. 

Jakesten grinned. "She's awake now, and getting recharged," he said. "What's new on the Maverick attacks?" 

"We have recieved word that Mega Man X has focused himself on countering the main Maverick threat," said Ryu. "I believe he has already destroyed one of the Maverick generals -- the one at the Los Angeles shipping docks -- and will shortly embark on defeating another." 

* * * * *

---------   
**Blade Seastar**   
(Seaport Area)   
---------

Mega Man X materialized in Los Angeles and looked around. "I'm here," he said into his transmitter. "What's the situation here?" 

_"The Mavericks have taken control of the shipping docks,"_ came Cala's voice. _"It should be two blocks ahead and to your left."_

X shrugged and dashed over to the shipping docks. It was here that he first encountered any signs of the enemy. Of course, the Mavericks were more interested in taking control than actual destrucion, so there wasn't _too_ much damage. Though there was an overturned car here and there and the smoking wreckage of a cruiser, all in all things were looking good. In terms of property, anyway; X didn't really feel like counting on too few casualties. 

"Yep," he said, "the Mavericks were here. Don't see too many, though. There's four of 'em, over by a group of Chimaera Ride Armors." 

_"You be careful,"_ said Cala. 

"Hey," said X, "it's me." 

X silently approached the Mavericks. "Didn't really think it'd be _this_ easy," one of them said. 

"Yeah!" said another. "No hide nor hair of any Hunters or RAS yet!" 

"I'm beginning to think that they might just _let_ us take this place!" cackled a third. 

"Too bad," said X, and he blasted him to bits. 

The way he did this was to fire off a fully-charged Super Shot at him. The reason he could do it without actually charging was that he had installed a device that allowed him to dispense with actually having to charge his X-Buster and fire fully-charged shots right away. 

The other Mavericks scrambled to their Ride Armors, but with an air dash, X got there first. It was then pathetically easy to eliminate them and their Ride Armors. 

_"Looks like you got 'em,"_ came Cala's voice. 

X grimaced, remembering the Fifth Uprising. "Cala, would you mind not calling me unless I call you first?" 

* * * * *

Blade Seastar was designed with more flexible limbs than most Reploids. He had full control of the bending of every inch along his five arms, the ends of which he could morph into hands or blasters. He was very ill-suited for travel on the ground, so he spent most of his time underwater. And he was an expert in employee relations. "So," he said into his transmitter, "how's everyone doin'? Group One, how are things over there?" 

"Just fine, Boss," came the response. 

"What about you, Group Two?" said Blade. 

"Everything's just great!" said the leader of Group Two. "No sign of any bad guys yet!" 

"Great! How about you, Group Three?" said Blade with a widening grin. 

There was no response. 

"Group Three??" said Blade. "What's going on over there??' 

"This is Group Four!" said another voice. "We're under attack! It's someone in a Chimaera! I repeat, we're under -- arrghhh!" 

"Uh-oh," said Blade. "Group Ten, you guys still livin'?" 

"Yeah, but there's a ruckus over in sector 4 ... Want us to investigate?" 

"Yeah," said Blade, "but be careful! I don't wanna have to report back to Sigma that we all got our asses handed to us!" He smirked. "Those of us that _have_ asses, anyway." 

* * * * *

Mega Man X trundled along in the Ride Armor, smashing all the Mavericks that approached him. He felt somewhat guilty; they never had a chance. Of course, given his Ultimate Armor, there was some debate over whether it would be any harder _without_ the Ride Armor. 

Then, something unexpected happened. There was the sound of a plasma shot being fired, and the left arm of his Ride Armor was sheared off. This had happened to Vile during the First Uprising; Zero had pinpointed that particular weakness that Chimaera Ride Armors had, and no feasible solution had been subsequently offered. Which was why Chimaera armors had fallen into disuse over the past century. 

Except by this group. X jumped out of the Ride Armor and fired towards the building that the shot had come from. There was an explosion, and X covered his eyes. When he looked again, there was only ruins. 

"Missed me!" said a voice off to the left. X fired a super shot, and a sudden yelp that was just as suddenly cut off indicated that he had been successful. 

_"Good work,"_ said a voice coming from a nearby speaker, _"but you can't beat _all_ of us!"_

"Who are you?" snapped X. 

_"I am Blade Seastar!"_ said the voice. _"Find me if you can! And then I'll take personal pleasure in destroying you!"_

So, a typical Maverick general. X rolled his eyes and said, "What makes you think you have a better chance at defeating me than the ninety-six other Maverick Generals who've tried to fight me?" 

_"Hmm, good point,"_ said Blade Seastar. _"But I'll be able to pinpoint your weaknesses!"_

X considered this, and said, "I don't think I really _have_ any weaknesses." 

_"If there is no way to defeat you outright, I will do my best to take you with me,"_ said the Maverick General in a mock-solemn tone of voice. _"But remember this: the wheel turns both ways!"_

There was a click, and the transmission cut off. X pondered this for a minute, then muttered, "No matter how hard you fight, I'll still win." 

* * * * *

One Alpha woke in the Maverick repair center. She felt as though she had been skewered, which was remarkably close to what _had_ happened. 

She looked around. Sigma stood there, looking regally down at her. "Who _was_ that Reploid?" he asked. 

One tried to think amid the haze in her mind. "Her name is Andante," she managed to say. Then the world faded again. 

When she next awoke, she felt like she could stand up. What's more, she felt like she could fight, and said so. 

"Good," said Sigma. "I must speak with my Maverick generals. In the meantime, I have another mission for you. And this time, you will not be hindered." 

One grinned. "What do I get to destroy this time?" she asked. 

* * * * *

Blade Seastar watched X on one of his monitors. "Okay, guys, here's the deal," he said into his transmitter. "We've got the Head Honcho himself here. Don't underestimate him. And don't try to actually fight him. That's just throwin' your lives away. Use the remote-controlled _big guns_." 

The others responded, confirming. Then a hologram of Sigma appeared. _"Blade Seastar, what is your progress there?"_ he asked. 

"Well, sir, we got company," said Blade. "Blue Boy himself. Mega Man X." 

Sigma snarled. _"Dispose of him,"_ he said. 

Blade used two of his arms to give the impression of shrugging. "I'll try, sir, but, ah, his current score is ninety-six to nothin'." 

_"Then simply do your best,"_ said Sigma curtly. _"If you fail to destroy him, then _you_ will be destroyed."_

"Yeah, okay," said Blade, cutting the transmission. "Boy, has _that_ guy got issues." 

* * * * *

X jumped to avoid a spread of blaster fire from a cannon. This was beginning to get on his nerves: these remote cannons were hard to destroy, and even if they didn't do much damage, they _hurt_ when they hit him. 

One of the shots knocked him off the dock and he fell headfirst into the water. After he managed to right himself, he looked around and saw something shining and pink: a Heart Tank. He grabbed it, opened his chest compartment, and installed it, chuckling inwardly as he felt some more life energy enter his body, as well as extending his capacity. Eight Maverick Generals ... heart tanks scattered all over the place ... Some things never changed. He wondered when he was going to find the -- 

A Maverick looked over the dock and into the water. "Did I kill him?" he asked, looking for X. His expiring thoughts involved two facts, those being that a) just because your target fell overboard didn't mean he was dead, and b) Mega Man X had a really annoying habit of surviving attacks and then blasting out really powerful Super Shots at you when you let your guard down. 

But meanwhile, something large came into view. It was the RAC warship _Enterprise_. X noted that there were no visible humans on the deck and concluded that since it wasn't RAC policy to have less than 25% of the crew on deck be human, let alone none, the ship had been attacked and most likely conquered by Mavericks. This theory was confirmed when the _Enterprise_ began firing missiles, lasers, and plasma at him. X considered his options and decided that underwater was his best hope. He jumped into the water, avoiding all the shots. 

Three of the missiles followed him. "Smart missiles," he muttered, and dashed towards the ship. The missiles followed him; he made a beeline for the side of the hull and at the last minute altered course and went straight to the side. The missiles barely managed to avoid hitting the ship and continued to follow him. "_Really_ smart missiles," he muttered, and fired a super shot at each. The explosion rocked the _Enterprise_, but didn't do much damage, since the hull was designed to withstand direct hits from guided missiles and these were mere glancing blows from the same. 

X climbed up to the top of the hull and began blasting at everything in sight. Almost none of the Mavericks managed to do more than aim before they ceased to exist. One or two managed to pop off a shot at him, but they merely glanced off his Ultimate Armor. 

There was a large blaster cannon on one part of the deck that one of the Mavericks now fired. X easily dodged before it managed to fire, and the blast tore a tremendous hole in the deck. "Missed me," he said. 

There was a burst of profanity from behind the cannon. X fired a shot into it, and the explosion of the cannon took the Maverick with it. 

_"Excuse me,"_ said Blade Seastar's voice over a loudspeaker, _"but would you mind telling my officers to watch where they're firing the goddamn cannon??"_

"Don't know what good it'll do to tell them something when they're dead," said X, looking around and seeing the hole. "That you down there?" 

Two amorphous arms came out of the hole, which X now saw was filled with water. "Yes," said Blade Seastar, pulling himself out. "You wanna fight? I'm down here. Or you worried about getting wet?" 

"I'm already as wet as I can get," said X. "Let's get ready to rumble!" 

"Now THAT'S an attitude I like!" said Blade, dropping into the hole. 

X touched his transmitter. "Any info on this guy?" 

_"Blade Seastar,"_ said Cala. _"I think he was designed for underwater research. I think that he's weak against an electrically-based weapon or ... that's weird: a fire weapon."_

"So in other words, nothing I can use yet," said X. 

_"Guess not."_

"Oh well. Here goes nothing." X jumped into the hole. A blast door closed above him. There was no immediate escape until this Maverick was disposed of. 

"Now, I'm sure you're familiar with the rules of mortal combat," said Blade Seastar. "May the best Reploid win: me!" 

X fired a supershot, hitting Blade Seastar head on. "Where'd you learn what 'best' meant?" he asked. 

"Ack," said Blade, morphing one of his arms into a blaster, "I learned it when I got that dictionary installed in my head!" The blaster fired a sort of shuriken. 

X leapt up to avoid it and found that it was still moving towards him. It hit him in the shoulder and exploded. X was knocked off balance, and Blade took that opportunity to grab him by the leg and throw him against the wall. 

Mega Man X had learned a few Uprisings back that laughing when he was dealt a blow that would have crippled him had he not been wearing his Ultimate Armor tended to freak his opponents out, so he did so. "Well then you must be wrong about which one of us is the best," he cackled. "Gimme your best shot." 

"O ... kay," said Blade, unnerved. "Here you go." He raised three of his arms, morphed them into blasters, pointed them at X's face, and fired three of the explosive shurikens from each. 

X dodged just in time. Now, despite the fact that the _Enterprise_ could withstand guided missile attacks with barely a scratch, the hull designers had clearly not counted on nine exploding shurikens being fired towards the same spot at point blank range from the inside, and so there was a nasty hole there when the blast cleared. Water began to seep into the gap between the walls, and the _Enterprise_ began to sink. There was also now a current flowing in that part of the room. "I hate it when that happens," said Blade, who had also been somewhat damaged by the blast. 

"You ain't seen nothin' yet," said X. "Nova Strike!" He rocketed towards Blade Seastar, who only managed to open his mouth to protest before he was slammed into the other side of the room. 

Warning messages flooded Blade's mind. "Okay, this is no longer funny," he said. "Now you die." He started spinning and ricocheting around the room. X tried to dodge, but he was hit three times and fell to the floor. "_Now_ who's the best??" taunted Blade. "Just try and get up!" 

X struggled to get up, but stumbled. "The ... best ..." He coughed. He raised his X-Buster to fire. "... is ... _me!_" He fired a Super Shot. 

Blade Seastar was caught off-guard. He had been only expecting a minor plasma shot, and so he hadn't bothered to try and dodge. The blast hit him head on, and he felt something give way in his reactor. "D'OH!" he said, and exploded into a million pieces. 

X managed to grab onto a DNA chip. He activated his transmitter. "Home base," he said, "this is X. The Maverick threat at this location is neutralized. Repeat, the threat heare is neutralized. Now teleport me directly to the medical center." 

As he dematerialized, he felt yet another pang of nostalgia. Ah, this was so much like things before ... 

* * * * *

Sigma recieved the signal shortly after One Alpha left. _Blade Seastar was destroyed!_ Once again, Mega Man X was destroying his Maverick Generals ... the outcome would be the same as the other twelve times ... 

A low groan escaped him. How futile was this? Were all his insurrections predoomed to failure? Was this truly how it would all end? 

_No!_ he thought. He would continue fightning. _No matter how long it takes, no matter how many times my body is destroyed, I MUST PERSEVERE! I WILL CONTINUE! AND I WILL EMERGE VICTORIOUS!_

Sigma snarled. Mega Man X would pay. He would see to that, and then destroy the human race. The Reploids would take their place, and Sigma would be their master. 

But a shred of doubt was still in his mind, even as he made this resolve ... 


End file.
